The Wall That Divides Us
by All Creation
Summary: Yawn! School is boring, Ran is unhappy, and there seems to be a sudden shortage of crimes in Tokyo. There’s nothing to do. Hmmmm... I wonder where Ai hid those trial antidotes. A ShinRan fic. PG13 to be safe.
1. A Way Around the Wall

----------------------------------------- )(The Wall That Divides Us)(------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan, but I sure wish I did!

Hey, wad up? This is only my first fic so please go easy on me. It's a Ran/Shinichi fic, where

Shinichi gets a little bored and decides to go steal one of the trial APTX antidotes that he used

during Shinichi's Rebirth. To his surprise he finds an antidote that will more than suit what he

needs, but what will he do with a whole week of being normal at his fingertips? It's got plenty

of fluffy goodness with a little bit of humor on the side, and I don't want to spoil anymore, so

with out further ado here it is...

PS: PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-----------------------------------)( Chapter 1: A Way Around The Wall )(-----------------------------------

'I wonder if she knows that's bad for her eyes. She's been sitting inches away from that computer screen for hours! She doesn't even have the lights on!' Conan Edogowa thought to himself as he watched Ai Haibara mash away at her computer. He had been hiding in the darkness of Ai's lab for the past two and half-hours, just waiting for a chance to take another one of her trial antidotes.

'Now what did Haibara say the last time I wanted another one of those antidotes?'

'Idiot! You could have died from that! I'm not giving you one everyday! I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to cut you off . . .'

Conan suddenly got a very perplexed look on his face.

'I've changed back and forth from Shinichi to Conan three times already, I think that's good enough proof that nothing bad will happen . . .'

Conan waited and waited and after another twenty minutes or so, to Conan's delight, Ai had finally finished hacking away at her keyboard and made her way out of her lab. Conan ran quickly but quietly over to the desk that Ai's computer was on. Actually it was more of a fast limp when he realized that his leg had fallen asleep from sitting on it for three straight hours. He rummaged through all of the drawers on the desk and came up with nothing but a bunch of papers. He turned his attention over to the desk to his left and then the desk to his right, and then to the file cabinet behind him. Through all of his searching he found nothing but papers and folders.

'How many papers does a little girl need for school? This can't all be information on the antidote and the organization? Can it?'

He tore his way through the last file cabinet on the left side of the room and came up with nothing. Distraught with not finding anything he sat at the computer desk with his arms folded and his head on top of them.

'Where could she have put them things? Could they be in her and Doc's room? Damn, if they were I don't even think Kid could take em without one of them noticing. I'll have to give it a shot though! Kogoro hasn't gotten a case in a week and a half, Ran isn't exactly having the time of her life right now, and I'm not going to be able to live through another week of multiplication tables!'

Conan rose out of the computer chair but as soon as he got up he hit his leg on something metal.

'What was that? It couldn't be the desk, this things made out of solid oak. Unless its a . . . a safe!'

Conan looked down to see a small but sturdy little safe located right under the right side of the desk. He slowly crawled under the desk and turned on a small flashlight that he made sure to bring before he went to Ai's lab.

'Now if it was only . . . Yes! It is! It's bolted to the ground! Now all I need are my stretchy suspenders and . . .'

Conan took his suspender straps off and put one end on the door and one end on the handle to the safe. After everything was tied up properly he pressed the button.

' . . . And perfect!'

The safe door ripped open. When he took a look inside his face beamed. In front of him were piles upon piles of APTX antidotes.

'There must be at least fifty antidotes in here! Wait . . . Hello what's this?'

He looked at an oddly colored blue and orange pill with a note of paper under it. The paper read:

'168 hour trial APTX antidote.'

Without a second thought going through his head, Conan slowly inched his hand towards the antidote. It was so amazing to him! How could such a small little tiny thing change his whole weak? How could he be so breathless reaching for a pill when he could denounce people as murderers with a grin on his face?

'I can't believe that alcohol can make my body grow and ungrow ten years...' He thought to himself with a little chuckle.

Right as he grabbed the pill he heard the doorknob begin to turn. His heart started to beat faster than it already was and he panicked. He slammed the safe door shut and stuffed the pill into his pocket. Only a split second later Ai Haibara opened the door and turned on the light.

Ai folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot lightly on the ground.

"What are you doing in here?" She demanded.

Conan slowly crawled out from under the desk and stood up.

"U-um . . . I was a . . . Looking for my a.. Watch! See I found it!" Conan pointed at his wrist with a large smile on his face.

"Whatever, goodnight Kudo."

"Goodnight." Conan responded as he sighed with relief.

'Thank god! I can't believe she bought that!'

Conan folded his arms across the back of his head and began his triumphant march up the stairs and out of Ai's lab. Ai waited with her arms still folded by the door.

"Oh! And Kudo!" Ai began. Conan froze, fearing that he had been caught. "I made that for an emergency. I'll let you get away with this only if you promise that this will be the last time you do this. Deal?"

Conan turned around and grinned.

"Deal!"

---------------------------

"Hey Ran! How much longer until dinner's ready? I'm dying over here!" Kogoro Mouri shouted while he violently beat the dinning room table with his fork and knife.

"Calm down dad it's almost done!" Ran called out from the kitchen.

Only a few minutes later she appeared from the kitchen doorway with a tray and a large bowl in her hands. She placed both dishes on the table to reveal that she had cooked smoked salmon and rice.

"Dinner is served."

"Wow! Looks like all of that waiting was worth it! Ha ha!" Kogoro yelled.

He jumped to the other side of the table and skewered a fish with his fork. He then grabbed the bowl of rice and dumped half of the bowl onto his plate.

"Dad! Aren't you gonna leave anything for anybody else?"

"You snooze you lose!" Kogoro muffled as bits of fish and rice flew out of his mouth.

Ran shook her head and began to make her plate. She grabbed a fish and a scoop of rice, once she was satisfied with her plate, she passed both dishes to Conan. He picked himself a salmon and a small scoop of rice and place both dishes in the middle of the table.

'I don't care about eating right now! I want to go change back to normal...' He thought to himself.

"Conan-kun? Aren't you going to eat your food? It's getting cold."

Conan quickly looked up at the concerned look in Ran's eyes. He nodded his head slowly.

"If not, I could . . ." Kogoro began, while he slowly moved his fork towards Conan's food. Ran quickly leaned over the table and blocked his fork with her spoon.

"Dad! You have enough there already!"

---------------------------

Conan glanced across his futon at his alarm clock; it had just turned midnight.

'Now that I think about it, I'm probably going to have to wake up earlier for this to work right.'

He quickly got up and walked over to the closet and after a little bit of searching he found a small pair of headphones. He walked over to the alarm clock and placed the cord to the headphones in the back of it. He stopped suddenly though when he heard a whimpering noise come from the other side of the wall. Conan slapped himself in the forehead.

'Great Ran's crying again, probably because of me . . . She's been like this all week!'

He walked over to the wall and put his hand on it. He moved his hand up and down almost trying to reach through it, trying to get to Ran. It symbolized the struggle he was in right now. Ran was so close to him, but there was a large obstacle in his way, a wall if you will. This "wall" was the APTX and the Black Organization.

'There may not be a way through this wall, but there are many ways around it...'

Conan finished setting the alarm clock and walked back over to his futon.

'Don't worry Ran, tomorrow I'll wipe all of your tears away with my own hands.'

---------------------------

Conan practically jumped out of his bed as a loud beep pulsed through his ears. He threw the headphones off of his head and rubbed his eyes.

'Maybe I should have turned the volume down a little bit...'

After a second or two he remembered what he had to do. He slowly opened the door to his room and tiptoed out. He planned on using the bathroom for his room of transformation, but apparently someone was already in there using the shower.

'No Way! How early does Ran wake up? School doesn't start for another two hours! It's only Six A.M.!'

Conan quietly returned to his room. He rummaged through his school bag and retrieved a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a quick note and placed it on his bed. He then got some of Shinichi's cloths out of his backpack that he had gotten the day before, and changed into them. Finally he opened a little side pouch on his bag and pulled out the antidote. The little pill shimmered off of the little bit of sun that shone through the window. After finally putting the pill in his mouth he covered his head in his blanket to muffle the screams that would come out eventually.

---------------------------

'Dear Ran-neechan,

My parents came in the middle of the night and said they were going to take me to America for a week. I wanted to say goodbye to you but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up. My parents said that I should probably at least write you a quick letter so you don't worry about me. Don't be sad though I'm gonna make sure to get you a cool souvenir from the U.S.

See ya soon,

Conan Edogowa'

Ran sighed heavily, and a small tear formed in her eye after she crumbled the note she had just taken off of Conan's bed.

'Now that special day is going to be lonelier than I thought . . .'

She shook it off and continued her normal morning routine. After getting dressed she woke up her father, which was probably the toughest task for her every day, at least physically. Then she made some eggs and toast for her and her father. Of course when Kogoro got the news of Conan leaving for the week, he clapped his hands and brought out a case of beers. Ran didn't have the will to talk him out of it, and just continued her morning. After brushing her teeth and gathering her school stuff she was ready to leave. She grabbed her backpack and began her long and lonely walk to school.

Ran made her way down the stairs of her house, and after she made her way out the door, she got the feeling that somebody was watching her. She paid no attention to the feeling however and continued walking.

"You know..." A familiar voice called out from behind her.

The voice made her freeze in her tracks. It sent a large chill up her spine that halted her every movement.

"...It's dangerous to walk to school by yourself, especially in this city!" The voice continued.

Ran turned around to confront the man behind her. It was dark and foggy that morning, and the dark figure behind her was only a shadow, but she already knew who it was before she turned around.

"Sh-Shinichi?"

---------------------------

Well, not a very long chapter, but it's only the first! I'm working on the next one as we speak, so I'll get it up as soon as possible. And don't forget... PLEASE REVIEW!!!!


	2. Like Old Times

---------------------------------- )(The Wall That Divides Us)(-----------------------------------

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan, but I sure wish I did!

A/N: I'm sincerely sorry that this took sooooo long to get up, but my had some kinda virus and I had to go and get it fixed, plus I had to retype this whole chapter, plus the other couple that I already had typed out. I'm really sorry! Also I want to thank everyone for taking their time to review this! Thanks very much and keep em comin lol.

-----------------------------------)( Chapter 2: Like Old Times )(-----------------------------------

Ran was in complete shock, she couldn't move or say anything besides the occasional...

"its-sh-shin-you-you-re-really-is?" She continued to stumble with the same words for what seemed like forever. She must have used every single combination of "is", "it", "really", "you", and "Shinichi" at least once, even if the order didn't make any sense.

'_Yep, I should've called her first..._'

Shinichi rubbed the back of his head, closed his eyes, and gave Ran a sheepish little grin.

"Yeah, it's really me Ran."

He opened his eyes and realized that she hadn't taken his word for it. Mainly because she was only a few inches away inspecting him. She was blushing madly, as was he, but she knew that it had to be done! After all, it could really be a robot, or Kid in disguise (wouldn't be the first time), or this could all just be a dream, couldn't it?

"Ran? What are you doing?"

Shinichi backed away slowly, but that didn't help him get away from her, she followed closely with her head tilted toward him, glaring straight into his eyes.

"I'm seeing if it's really you and not a robot, or Kid, or.... Or..."

Or a dream she wanted to say, but she stopped herself when she realized what she was about to blurt out. She knew it was really him, even before she turned around to look at him. How? She really didn't know, but she wasn't really sure if she was dreaming or not. Dreaming that he was going to be dying in an abandoned warehouse somewhere and he was calling out for her, but she couldn't hear him. Or dreaming that he had really come back, but as soon as she had began to talk to him, he would disappear.

"Satisfied?" Shinichi asked, hoping to get out of this unusual situation as fast as he could.

This only made Ran's gaze even more fierce and she drew even closer to Shinichi. If this really was real, she enjoyed being this close to him, despite the huge blush that she could feel on her face.

"How could I be sure that it's really you?" Ran questioned.

"All right lets see" Shinichi began. "Judging by the time you came out of your house, and since Conan isn't with you, I'm guessing that Conan is either sick or went with his parents somewhere. I can also tell that your father hasn't gotten many cases lately because there aren't any mud trails on the side walk, even though it said it's been raining in Tokyo on the radio for the past week. And judging by the look on your face you were up very late last night."

'_Okay maybe I kinda cheated, but she doesn't know me and Conan are the same person anyways..._'

Ran stared blankly at Shinichi's quick presentation of his detective skills. If she had any doubts before, they were cleared up. But she still didn't know whether this was a dream or not. She gave a quick little pinch to her arm and flinched a little bit.

'The pain felt real... Maybe this is really happening! Could my Shinichi really be standing a foot away from me?'

"Shinichi?" Ran choked out once again. A look of despair came over Shinichi as he slapped himself on the forehead.

"Raaaaaaaaaaan, we don't have time for this. If we don't hurry we're gonna be late for school!"

Ran quickly snapped out of it, but before she could say anything Shinichi had already grabbed her hand and proceeded to run towards Teiten high school.

After a few minutes of running they slowed down. They were both satisfied with the time they had saved, and besides, they both had quite a bit to talk about.

"Soooooooo..." Ran began. "How long until you have to leave this time?"

Shinichi glanced at the sky and thought about it for a few seconds.

'_Let's see... I used the pill this morning, and today is Wednesday... so I should turn back really early next Wednesday..._'

"I don't have to leave until early Wednesday morning." Shinichi smiled.

He could see the happiness swell up in Ran's eyes, and all of her tensions leaving her. It wasn't very hard for him to notice though, she didn't hide it very well. A large grin spread across her face, this must have been the happiest she had been in months!

They both continued their walk for a couple of minutes without words, they were both just enjoying being this close to each other. The two of them were pretending not to notice that they were still holding hands. They didn't want to accidentally ruin it.

"So Shinichi? Do you know what classes you have this semester?" Ran finally asked.

Shinichi looked over at Ran again with the same sheepish look that he had given her only a few minutes ago.

"Uhhhh . . . Not really. But I can go to the guidance office and find out right?"

"They moved the guidance office to where the art rooms used to be about a month ago, do you know where that is?"

Shinichi gave Ran a blank stare.

"Don't worry, I'll show you where it is." Ran assured him.

Before they realized it, they had arrived at their destination. As they made their way through the schoolyard all of the students changed the subject of their conversations.

"Hey look! Kudo's back!" Was heard in the background.

"The married couple is back together again!" Another student pointed out under his breath

Both Ran and Shinichi ignored the comments until Sonoko suddenly stepped out in front of them.

"How romantic! You two finally admitted your feelings for each other!" Sonoko remarked.

"What?!?!" Ran and Shinichi both yelled out at the same time. Both of them were blushing a little bit.

Sonoko giggled uncontrollably, and pointed toward their hands. Both Ran and Shinichi looked down and realized that Shinichi was still holding Ran's hand. Both of their blushes grew more intense as they pulled away from each other.

"It's sooooooo sweat that Shinichi decided to return just in time for your birthday this Sunday! Isn't it Ran?"

Those words hit Shinichi like a ton of bricks.

'_Ran's Birthday?!?! How could I have forgotten?!?! I can't believe I'm thinking this but.... Thank you Sonoko._'

"Are you kidding me?" Ran questioned. "I bet it was just dumb luck! He barely remembers his own birthday, how could he remember mine? Right Shinichi?"

"Uhhh... Well... I uhh."

Shinichi laughed nervously at Ran's question, but he was in luck. The bell had just rung and it was time to get to class.

"Come on Ran! You still gotta show me where the guidance office is!"

Both Ran and Shinichi made their way to the guidance office. Shinichi was very happy to find out he shared all of his classes with Ran, except for gym and his history class.

The first class of the day was Chemistry. Not much really happened in it besides a ton of notes.

The second class of the day was law, which was a very unusual class. Why? Because Shinichi was pretty much a special guest speaker for his own class. He was pleasantly asked (more like forced) by the teacher to go up in front of the class and give an impromptu report on the legal system and the cases that he had been on. Shinichi really enjoyed the chance to get to show off his detective work though.

His third class was gym, and this is when he realized that this could be his luckiest day ever! Of course they were playing his favorite sport; soccer! A fight almost broke out between the two captains when it was time to pick teams. Both of them wanted Shinichi. It wasn't even fair for the team that had to play against him, he single handedly scored five goals!

His Fourth class was math, and the day seamed even luckier now. Not only was there an open seat next to Ran, but there was a sub today and they had no work to do! They pretty much chatted the whole time, which was nice. They talked about how they had lunch next and since the weather was good, they could eat outside like they used to.

"It's really nice to eat out here like old times, isn't it?" Sonoko asked, as she carried her lunch tray over to the tree that Ran and Shinichi were sitting under.

It was a small tree that they were sitting under, it was maybe seven feet tall. The grass was still a little wet from all of the rain that had moved through Tokyo this past week, but they put a nice little red blanket down to sit on.

"Yeah, I kinda missed doing this." Ran admitted while she riffled through the lunch that she brought.

"I can't remember the last time we've gotten to eat out here." Shinichi responded.

Ran and Sonoko began talking and carried on a private little conversation which left Shinichi alone in his own little world.

"Girl talk..." Shinichi mumbled as he rolled his eyes

Suddenly he gave out a large long yawn and his eyes grew heavy.

"Shinichi? Are you all right?" Ran asked with a concerned look on her face.

Every time that Ran had seen Shinichi this past year he had either been sick or tired most of the time. That was probably reason enough for her to be a little worried, and she had just noticed how bloodshot his eyes had become since this morning. God!

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired..."

Which was the truth. He didn't get much sleep last night, and the transformation took quite a bit out of him. But he couldn't fall asleep, or go and take a nap! He wanted to enjoy his time in his real body as much as possible. If there was one thing he had learned from the last time he was in his real body, it was that time is one of the most valuable things in this world, and it should be used wisely.

"What time did you get to sleep?" Ran asked.

"I didn't, I just got into town at 5:00 this morning..."

The concerned look on Ran's face hardened.

"Hey, why not take a quick little nap for the rest of the lunch period?" Ran suggested.

"But I can't! I don't want to waste any of my time..."

Another long yawn escaped from Shinichi's mouth and his blood shot eyes grew even more blood shot. All traces of whiteness in his eyes were long gone.

"That settles it... you're gonna take a nap until lunch is over! You'll feel much better later..."

"But Raaaaaaaaaaan!"

Shinichi gave Ran the best puppy dog face he could muster, but with completely blood shot eyes, it wasn't much.

"NO BUTS KUDO SHINICHI!"

"fine..."

Shinichi moved to the opposite corner of the blanket and as soon as he had laid down, he had fallen fast asleep.

When he finally woke up it was the end of the lunch period, he was surprised at how much only thirty minutes of rest could help. He didn't feel tired at all! He noted to himself that he would definitely have to thank Ran later.

When school finally ended a couple of hours later, he made his way out into the schoolyard to wait for Ran. He started to feel tired again, but he didn't think much of it. He had more important things on his mind.

'_What should I get Ran for her birthday? Think Kudo! What has she always told Conan that she wants... besides me coming home?_'

"Watcha thinkin about?" A familiar voice asked.

Shinichi jumped back instantly. It was Ran standing only a few feet away with a big smile on her face.

Ran suggested that they hang out at her house and later she would make a big dinner for him, her, and her father. Of course Shinichi agreed. After a long chat between Ran and Sonoko, Shinichi and Ran began their walk to Ran's house.

"So?" Ran asked. "What were ya thinkin about a couple of minutes ago?"

"Me?"

"Yes, YOU silly."

"Oh... nothin..."

"Nothin huh?"

"Yeah nothin!"

Ran giggled a little bit and another large smile spread across her face. She started humming something, but Shinichi couldn't quite make out what it was. He looked over at her, and noticed how happy she looked. The sun glimmered through her dark brown hair and reflected off of her beautiful face. She looked amazing to him when she was smiling! Not just fake smiling like she would when Conan noticed that she was sad, but actually sincerely smiling. She slowly looked over at him and noticed him staring at her. A small blush spread across both of their faces. Shinichi tried his hardest to turn his head away and stop staring at her, but he just couldn't. It was amazing to him! How could someone be so beautiful?

"What are you doing?" Ran asked, with a look of concern in her eyes.

This finally broke Shinichi's concentration and he turned his head.

"Oh.. I was just thinking..."

"About what?"

"Nothin.."

"Nothin huh?"

"Yep nothin!"

Both of them laughed a little bit and they continued their walk.

"You know... you look really tired again..." Ran pointed out.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Maybe you should turn around and head home so you can get some sleep..."

"But Raaaaaaaan I don't wanna miss the big dinner that you're gonna make! You know I love your cooking..."

That complement plus the puppy dog face that he was giving her settled it. How could she compete with that?

Suddenly a very painful feeling went through Shinichi's chest, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't do anything!

'_No it can't be!!! I thought Ai said that the antidote was supposed to last a whole week?!?! It hasn't even been a day yet!!!_'

Shinichi slowly turned around and began to stumble the opposite way that Ran was going.

"Shinichi? What's wrong?"

'_No! I have to get away from Ran!!! She can't see me change back!_'

He tried his hardest to walk the other way, but it didn't help. He tripped over his feet and fell to the ground.

"Shinichi! Are you alright?"

"... I... I'm sorry Ran..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Uh-oh a cliffy! I should have the next chapter up within a week or so! So keep the reviews a comin! Sorry again for the long wait on getting this one up. As long as my computer doesn't die again the next chapter should be up soon!


	3. Dinner Disaster

----------------------------------- )( The Wall That Divides Us )(------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Yep, I don't own Detective Conan or any of it's characters...

A/N: Sorry again for the slow (not as slow as last time.) update again. But this one took me a while, and I changed it a lot. And that damn Christmas shopping! Bah... who am I kidding? I love Christmas!

Now that that's taken care of, I want to thank everyone for all of their reviews again. I'm very excited that people have taken the time to read my story. Thank you again!

Psssst... Please review .::wink wink::.

-----------------------------------)( Chapter 3: Dinner Disaster )(-----------------------------------

"Hey Ran! Have you seen my remote?!?!"

Kogoro walked out of his office with a TV guide in one hand and a can of beer in the other. Apparently he had just found out about a Yoko Okina special that was going to be playing in about ten minutes.

"Shhhhh... Be quiet dad, he's sleeping..." Ran whispered.

"Oh no!" Kogoro slapped himself on the forehead dramatically, acting like he had just been shot. "Don't tell me that little brat is back already."

Kogoro walked from the hallway into the living room only to see Shinichi Kudo sleeping on the couch. And not just any old couch... HIS couch! In HIS house!

Kogoro's temper flared. "What the hell is that baka detective doing here?!?!"

Just when he thought he would never see that teen detective again. Well, there he was, just taunting him by sleeping there.

"Shinichi's not feeling well, and he collapsed on our way home from school." Ran told him sympathetically, almost trying to make him feel sorry for Shinichi.

Kogoro didn't buy it. "Well when he wakes up I want him OUT!"

"Fine... But if HE has to go then I'M going with him, leaving YOU with no dinner."

Kogoro shook his head and slowly dragged his feet out of the living room and back into his office.

"I pay for the house, but she gets away with everything..." Kogoro mumbled when he was out of Ran's hearing range.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

'_Where... Where am I?_'

Shinichi rubbed his eyes a couple of times and realized that he was in Ran's living room. After studying his surroundings a little more he realized that he was wrapped in blankets, and it was 6:30.

'_It was all a dream? I must have fallen asleep out here last night and Ran didn't want to wake me up. Oh well, I better get ready for school..._'

Suddenly the smells of Ran's cooking began to tempt his nose. This wasn't Ran's average cooking, which was good by all means, but this was just... Wow! He hadn't smelled something this delicious in ages! Ignoring everything else he slowly rose from the couch and stumbled into the kitchen, almost as if he were in a trance.

As he entered the kitchen Ran turned around from the stove and gave him a huge smile. It seemed funny to him that she was smiling so much.

"Hey sleepyhead."

"Hey Ran-neechan! Whatcha cookin?"

"Did you just call me Ran-neechan?" She stared blankly at him. "Did you hit your head when you passed out?"

"Hit my head? ...Passed out?" Shinichi questioned.

Ran turned away from the pan that she was cooking with. Her once large smile was now a large frown.

"Don't tell me you have a concussion!" She rushed over to Shinichi and rubbed her hand through his hair, trying to find any bumps or cuts from falling. "I could have sworn that you didn't hit your head!"

'_That's funny, Ran seems really short... DUH!!! Kudo you idiot! You're in your real body! But why was I sleeping on the couch?_'

Ran sighed with relief. "You don't have any bumps or anything... Do you remember anything from today at all?"

'_That's right! I passed out on the way home from school! It's not 6:30 in the morning it's 6:30 in the afternoon!_'

"Yeah I remember everything now, but how did I end up here?"

"Luckily, we were right next to my house when you blanked out." Ran gave off a little blush." You were really tired, I was worried..."

"Oh... Thanks for helping me Ran." Shinichi blushed back.

"No problem."

The smile returned to Ran's face again and she turned around to continue her cooking. Shinichi snuck up beside her and peeked over her shoulder, trying to get a view of the food.

"Soooooooooo Ran... Whatcha cookin?" Shinichi whispered into Ran's ear.

Ran blushed badly when she realized Shinichi's face was only inches away from hers, and the fact that he was breathing into her ear and on her neck didn't help much either. She reached into a large pot with her stirring spoon and scooped up a little bit of its contents. After blowing on it to cool it down she turned around and dabbed a little bit of it onto Shinichi's nose.

"Hey! What was that for?"

Ran gave him a gleeful smile. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

Shinichi grabbed a paper towel and wiped the sauce off of his nose.

"Can I help?" He asked with the best puppy dogface he could give.

"I dunno know... Can you help without peeking?"

Shinichi closed his eyes and raised his right hand in the air.

"Detectives honor."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Ran looked over at Shinichi and watched him try to flatten some dough. He was apparently trying to make some kind of biscuits or something, but it didn't seem like he knew he needed flour to help unstick them. She giggled a little bit at the sight of it.

'_He looks so cute with an apron on_.' Ran thought to herself. '_I wonder if he thinks the same thing about me..._'

She stirred the hidden contents of the large pan one last time and then placed her spoon on the side of the stove.

'_Alright, just say something nice to him. Let it out_!'

After a long pause and a couple deep breaths she was ready.

"Hey Shinichi, .. I..."

Ran turned to face Shinichi, but she caught only a glimpse of him. Mainly because she was hit in the face with a small glob of dough. She quickly lifted her apron and rubbed the tan collored brown gooiness out of her eyes. She saw Shinichi with a large grin on his face and a spoon tilted at her as if it were a catapult.

"SHINICHI!! What are you doing?!?!"

By the time she was done yelling, he already had another glob of dough armed in his spoon-catapult.

"Shinichi! You better not!"

Shinichi stood in silence with a poker face, almost as if he wasn't paying attention to Ran's warnings.

"SHINICHI?!?!"

He continued his silence.

"Go ahead and do it! See what happens!" Ran dared him sarcastically.

A large smirk broke his poker face.

"All right, I will." Shinichi finally said.

He launched the glob, hitting her in the left shoulder. He couldn't contain the laughter anymore now. Ran was scrambling around trying to clean herself off and her face was bright red. He just had to laugh.

"KUDO SHINICHI!"

His laughter ended immediately. When Ran used his whole name it usually meant she was ticked.

"YOU'RE DEAD!"

Immediately, Ran tossed a large lump of rice straight at Shinichi. He tried to dodge it, but he didn't have enough time. His entire face was covered with a white glob.

Ran laughed instantly when she saw Shinichi scoop off some of the potatoes from his face. She even laughed when he threw the potatoes back. She truly hadn't had this much fun in what seemed like forever.

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"Hey Ran! Is the food done yet?" Kogoro asked as he made his way towards the kitchen.

Neither Ran nor Shinichi heard him though. The sounds of their laughter and yelling drowned it out.

"Ran? Did you hear me? I'm starving!" Kogoro yelled again.

There wasn't any answere. Kogoro now approached the entrance to the kitchen.

"Hey Ran..."

As soon as Kogoro walked in to the kitchen he was hit in the side of the head with what seemed to be a mixture of rice, dough, and flour.

Both Ran and Shinichi dropped their globs of food and looked over at Kogoro in complete shock. They had both completely forgotten about everything and lost track of time.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!?! LOOK AT THIS MESS!!!" Kogoro screamed at the top of his lungs.

Ran and Shinichi slowly examined the room. Globs of dough and rice were everywhere! On the walls, the floor, the stove, the fridge, and even dripping from the ceiling. The fact that they had both knocked over the table and some chairs for cover didn't help much either.

"RAN!! I don't care what you do or say, but I want that kid OUT!!"

"Fine, let's go Shinichi..." Ran sighed

Both Ran and Shinichi cautiously walked there way around Kogoro, got their backpacks, and walked out the door.

They were both surprised to see it was already dark out. Where had the time gone? Some of the streetlights were just turning on now so it couldn't be that late.

Shinichi looked over at Ran who was walking beside him. She was so beautiful. He tried as hard as he could not to get lost in her eyes again, but he already knew he would lose the battle.

'_Why?_' He asked himself. '_Why can't I be with her like this everyday? Why can't I just get my normal body back? Why does some stupid crime organization want me dead? Why did I have to follow Vodka back at Tropical Land that one night? Why can't I just tell Ran everything?_'

Ran turned and stared back into Shinichi's eyes.

'_I wonder what he's thinking about right now._' She pondered to herself.

"Hey Ran..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about getting you in trouble."

Ran giggled a little bit at his comment. Was he actually apologizing to her?

"Don't worry about it, that was the most fun I've had in a long time."

Shinichi laughed a little bit too, was she actually still happy after all of that?

"So what do you want to do?" Ran asked.

"Well, there isn't really much we can do looking like this." Shinichi motioned to his apron and played with it a little.

Ran suddenly noticed the globs of rice all over Shinichi's clothes. She wondered how messy she looked considering she lost the food fight.

Ran giggled a little bit. "I was wondering why all those people are staring at us."

"We should probably go back to my house and clean off. Then maybe we could order some food or something" Shinichi suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

When they finally reached Shinichi's house they realized one huge problem; his keys fell out of his pocket when he was sleeping.

"Great! Now what, Mr. Detective?" Ran asked impatiently

"Well... There's a window opened upstairs in my room, we can break in from there.".

They both made there way around to the side of the house and located his window.

"Are you kidding?!" Ran yelled. "It's at least fifteen feet off the ground! It's too high!"

"Not if we stand on this." Shinichi said while he pulled out a small stepladder from the side of the house.

Ran starred at him like he was an idiot.

"A tiny five-foot ladder isn't going to help us!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "No, no no! I'll stand on the ladder and you stand on my shoulders and go in the window. Then you go down stairs and unlock the door."

"But... it... it's dark in there!" Ran cringed at the thought of roaming Shinichi's house in the dark, which many little kids thought was haunted.

"Well it's the only way unless you want me to stand on your shoulders."

"Grrrrrr.. Fine! This is all your fault Shinichi!"

Just at that moment Dr. Agasa peeked out his window to see the two kids arguing and climbing all over each other, trying to get into the window. Of course he could go out and give them the spare key that he kept, but that would ruin all of the fun. He couldn't stop himself from laughing at their cloths either. The messy apron burglars he reminded himself to call them later.

"SHINICHI! Did you just look up my skirt?!?!"

"No..."

"Shinichi!"

"It was an accident, I swear! Just hurry up and get inside, I won't look up anymore!" Shinichi assured her.

"Well if you do, I'll step on your face!"

Ran finally got into the house and quickly made her way down the stairs to open the front door. It wasn't hard for her to find her way through the huge maze like house in the dark. She had been there many times and knew the layout almost as well as her own house. She was quite scared though.

"Thank you. There were a couple kids from school out there staring at me." Shinichi said when Ran unlocked the door for him.

"I bet you're gonna be everyone's favorite subject in school tomorrow." Ran joked.

They both laughed a little bit.

Shinichi picked up his backpack and rummaged through it, trying to find his cell phone. "What should we order?"

"How about some Chinese?" Ran asked excitedly.

How could he say no?

"Go ahead and go get cleaned off. You can get some clothes from my parent's room and you can use the shower upstairs. I'll put everything in the wash too."

"All right." Ran agreed while she took off up the stairs.

When she entered Shinichi's parent's room she already knew that there would be trouble. There were so many closets and dressers in this massive room. Most of them were Yukikos though, and if she ever wondered how big famous actresses wardrobe was, she now knew. There were suits, dresses, jeans, shorts, sweatshirts, and even bunny pajamas. There must have been at least ten pairs of every single style of cloths ever created in there! Every time she went to put her hands on something she would pull it back. She didn't want to dress up, but she didn't want to look like slob either. Finally after five or ten minutes of thinking, she picked out a pair of blue pajama pants with little bears on them and a gray sweatshirt. After that, she quickly made her way to the bathroom and began her shower.

"Women . . ." Shinichi muttered to himself when he finally heard the shower turn on.

After a little bit of searching he found the number for a Chinese restaurant in the phone book that delivered. After ordering, the guy said it would come in about forty-five minutes, but Shinichi knew that really meant about an hour. Which reminded him, he had no clue what time it was. He turned his phone back on and realized it was already 8:30!

'_Maybe I should check up with Ai while real quick..._'

Shinichi quickly dialed Agasa's number and waited a few seconds for him to answer.

"Hello?" Agasa greeted.

"Hey Doc, is Haibara there?"

"Yeah, She's right here."

"What's up Kudo?" Ai finally answered after about two minutes of waiting.

"Well, earlier today I passed out on my way home from school. It felt like I was going to change back."

"Hmmmm... That's odd... When did you take the pill?" Ai asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Around six o-clock this morning."

"Did it feel exactly like it does when you change back, or did you just pass out?"

"It felt exactly like it does when I change."

"I see. How much sleep did you get?"

"Only about two hours, but I took a nap for about half an hour too."

"KUDO YOU IDIOT!!! You need to get sleep when you transform!!! Your lucky you didn't change back!"

Shinichi cringed at the earsplitting yell coming from the other side of the phone. "..Ooops.."

"Yeah! Big oops! I'll look into though... If you change back it could ruin everything."

"Thanks Haibara."

Suddenly Shinichi began to hear soft footsteps coming down from the stairs.

"Yeah..." Haibara began, but she was cut off.

"Yep, that's all. How much was that again?" Shinichi asked, trying to make the conversation look normal.

"What the hell are you talking about Kudo?"

"Okay, Bye."

Shinichi hung up his phone and gave Ran the biggest smile he could muster. She smiled back for a couple seconds and tossed her dirty clothes at him, hitting him in the head.

"I just remembered that we have chemistry homework." Ran pointed out while she went across the room for her backpack.

Shinichi scooped the dirty clothes off his head. "All right I'll be right back after I get cleaned up and get these washed. If the food comes before I get back the money's on the table."

Shinichi quickly disappeared up the stairs. While he was getting some clothes and taking a shower, Ran was trying to get started on the chemistry homework.

Ran looked at the papers spread out on the table in front of her and gave out a large sigh. '_significant digits... uranium.. neon... hydrogen.... ARGGGGGGGHHHHH!!! I can't concentrate right now! It's so cold in here too!_'

She got up and grabbed a blanket from the closet on the other side of the living room.

The blanket wasn't much help, and Shinichi wasn't that much of a help either. Back in the good old days he would do most of the work when Ran couldn't concentrate or when something was bothering her. Now he didn't really know what was going on since he hasn't been in school steadily for the past year or so. The fact that he and Ran were sharing the same blanket and were right next to each other didn't help with their concentration either.

DING-DONG

"That's the food." Shinichi stated as he lifted himself off of the couch and away from Ran and the homework.

He quickly made his way over to the door, realizing it was already 9:30. He opened the door and paid for the food while he observed the delivery boy.

'_I think I've seen this kid from school before..._'

After paying for the food, he went back to the table with it and the small homework party began. Actually there wasn't much homework being done, just eating and talking.

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"Hey Ran." Shinichi half said half yawned. "I think I finally figured out this mass conversion thing."

Ran didn't answer.

"Ran?"

Shinichi turned his head and realized that Ran was fast asleep with her head rested on his shoulder. She had a large smile on her face and for a couple seconds, Shinichi could have sworn he was in heaven. This must have been the first time he had seen a smile on her face while she slept since their plane ride to America.

Shinichi strongly considered waking her up, but decided against it. It was already 10:30 and Ai did say that he needed all of sleep that he could get, didn't she? So, slowly and carefully he moved to his left and positioned Ran so that she was now lying on the couch instead of his shoulder. Then he crept to his feet and tiptoed over to the closet to get a pillow. After getting the pillow he snuck back over to the couch and with one hand lifted Ran up so that she was sitting up straight. Next he placed the pillow down at one end of the couch and carefully, making sure Ran didn't fall, climbed onto the outside portion of the couch and slowly pulled her down next to him. Finally pulled the blanket up over them and wrapped his arms around her. Subconsciously, Ran also wrapped her arms around Shinichi and moved her head closer to his.

'_This is gonna be really awkward when she wakes up_.' Shinichi thought to himself, but he didn't really care. Quickly he started to daze off and he fell asleep.

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Whoa! 8 full pages... I feel woozy. .::faints::.

A/N (numba 2!) : I need some help with the next chapter. Do you think I should include Heiji and Kazuha into the story somehow? I wasn't originally considering it, but now I'm kinda thinkin about it. Any suggestions would really be appreciated.


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